How to Claim on Travel Insurance: The Paperwork That Gets You Paid

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When I cut my leg on my bike in Barcelona, the first thing I did after stopping the bleeding was call my insurer. They confirmed stitches were covered, I went to a good hospital, and I was paid back. A few months earlier, with a sea urchin in my foot and no cover, I paid for everything myself. I told both stories in the sea urchin epidural that taught me a lesson.

The difference was not luck. It was a phone call and a folder of paperwork. Here is how to claim on travel insurance so you actually get paid.

Two kinds of claim

Most policies work in two ways, and knowing which one you are in saves a lot of money.

• Hospital stays. The insurer’s assistance team deals with the hospital directly and pays them. You should not be handing over a card at reception.
• Everything else. Doctor visits, scans, pharmacy and physio. You pay, then claim the money back.

Step by step

1. Get help first. In a real emergency call the local number, 112 or 911, and sort the paperwork later. Once you are stable, call the assistance line. My guide on what to do if you get sick or injured abroad walks through that first hour.
2. Call before you pay for anything that can wait. A two minute call confirms the treatment is covered and tells you which hospital to use.
3. Get a cost estimate for big bills. Many policies need to approve treatment above a set amount before it happens. Skip this and you can lose part of the payout.
4. Collect the right documents. An invoice needs the date, the provider’s name and address, your name, and each cost listed separately with a short description. A card receipt on its own is not enough. Ask for the medical report too.
5. Claim as soon as you can. Upload everything through the insurer’s portal while it is fresh and you are still in the country, in case they need something else.
6. Keep copies. Photograph every page before you hand anything over.

How a Genki Traveler claim works

I use Genki myself, and its process is set out in the current conditions:

• For a hospital stay, you or the hospital contact the 24 hour emergency assistance before admission, or as early as possible after an accident. They pay the hospital directly and monitor your care.
• For everything else, you pay and submit a request for reimbursement in the member centre, with every invoice attached.
• For costs of €1,000 or more, send an itemised cost estimate to the insurer at least 5 days before treatment. If you do not, only half of what would have been covered is paid back. In an emergency the assistance line can confirm it instead.
• You pay the first €50 of each case. There is no deductible for hospital stays.
• Bills in other currencies are converted at the European Central Bank rate on the invoice date.
• Genki says it pays 80 percent of reimbursements within two business days.

You can read the full conditions and check the price of Genki Traveler for your age.

Why claims get refused

• The condition was pre existing. My guide on travel insurance and pre existing conditions explains how insurers decide.
• You paid for elective treatment that could have waited until you were home.
• Alcohol or illegal drugs were involved.
• You skipped the call or the cost estimate the policy requires.
• The invoice did not show what was done.

Keep a claims folder

Before every trip I save my policy number and the assistance number offline. Then I keep one folder for every bill, report and email. It feels like admin until the day it turns into a few thousand euros back in your account. For the bigger picture, see my guide to insurance for digital nomads.

Photo by 2H Media on Unsplash.